This year I’ve been out-and-about in the real world populated by actual human beings, setting up my art booth each Saturday at the Carroll County Farmer’s Market.
Which recently hosted its “Christmas in July” sale.
And unlike every other year, where I promise to get ready for the dreaded holiday season early… this year I managed to actually do it!

I completed two Christmas paintings in July:

The Three Wise Cats

And Santa Cat, shown above, inspired by Old World images of St. Nicholas.

Sitting in an art booth for five hours each weekend has given me a perfect opportunity to work on new ideas, and finish some older paintings… like this 16″x20″ canvas, featuring a portrait of Rapunzel that I began waaay back in March. She’s nearly finished now! :O)

And the commissioned portrait of Sherlock Holmes and Watson, that I teased you with in my last post (nearly a month ago!), has been adopted into its new family.

And while I’ve been printing Christmas cards (in July, I can’t believe it!) … Joe has been working on the little wooden plaques which have become quite popular.

We will also be selling a new line of Christmas ornaments soon. Trying to find a small tree to display my ornaments was tough! Doesn’t any retailer celebrate Christmas in July?!

The ye olde Christmas Tree Shop might look promising indeed, but alas, they do not carry anything resembling Christmas merchandise during the summer. Although you will find the sweetest ladies working there outside of Santa’s toyshop.

I managed to find a holiday section in the Chambersburg Hobby Lobby.

(Now to find the time, in-between restocking for shows and my day job, to take photographs and create Etsy listings for everything we’ve made this summer! LOL)

Joe came up with a low-cost yet creative way to display my artwork against the tent walls: he built a frame using PVC pipe, with legs to support its weight, and drilled holes to thread clothesline across for hanging prints. The idea for using clothesline was mine, inspired by the laundry outside. ;O)

Sure, it isn’t “professional” like the ProPanels used by serious photographers and artists… which cost hundreds of dollars. Nevertheless, I like the simple charm of my display.

We will be at Landon C. Burns park again this Saturday, at the base of the hill below the Agriculture Center, if you are in the neighborhood and would like to come by and chat. I might still be working on Rapunzel Cat… or something entirely new.

Post Archives

Upcoming Shows

TaraFly on Patreon

Featured by Forbes, Time, and Billboard magazines, Patreon.com is a crowdfunding platform for artists, musicians, and creators to receive monthly subscriptions from patrons to help support their ongoing creative works.

Subscribe to TaraFlyArt on Patreon for exclusive Behind the Scenes peeks at paintings in progress, earn discounts on original art, and even get surprise packages in the mail!

About TaraFly

A Crazy Cat Lady who divides her time between painting portraits of cats dressed in period costumes, watching BBC mini-series, growing weeds and wildflowers, and baking pumpkin pies seasoned with cat hair.